[WOTC] Minis Spotlight

[mmu1]

I'm not an artisticly inclined person at all, but the first mini I ever painted, using no shading or any special techniques at all is several orders of magnitude better than any of the paint jobs I see in that gallery.

Depends on the person (obviously) - being artistically inclined has little to do with it, though, since it's a craft, not an art.
It also depends on the miniatures, some are simple and easy to paint, others have so much fine detail they literally are ruined when someone who's not very good just paints over it all, making it look little better than those WotC minis...

 

[mmu1]

BZZZT! Bad math!
Rares will constitute 12.5% of a booster (1 in 8)
Uncommons ring in at 37.5% per booster (3 in 8)
And Commons round out the rest at 50% of a booster (4 in 8)


So, half of what you get'll be uncommon or better. Not too bad.

Nope... Not if you also take starter packs into account. Admittedly, I just assumed a 1:1 ratio of starter to booster packs for my numbers, which isn't right either (not to mention that I, ahem, accidentally pushed the decimal point one step left) - the actual numbers are going to depend on what people are buying and in what proportions.

And like I said, the idea here is obviously to, after an initial period in which people will get their money's worth (For argument's sake, since I don't think these things look worthwhile at $1.25 a piece, but that's another discussion...) of uncommon and common figures to get them to effectively drop $10 for a single rare figure...

 

[Conaill]

Did you ever run a game in which you really needed a dozen orcs, a dozen goblins, a dozen kobolds, etc?

We've often had games where we needed a dozen orcs, or a dozen goblins, or a dozen kobolds. Usually not all three dozen in the same game, but it's nice to to have to say "ok, these orc-looking guys are actually kobolds, right?".

[/b]over the years, I've accumulated more "fodder" minis then I'll ever use, and I don't want any more.[/B]

Then I guess you're probably in the minority amongst DMs. Especially amongst beginning DMs, which is where WotC's growth market is.

 

[Conaill]

They are hand painted in big factories in Asia.

BTW, anyone know what the working conditions are in these factories? Must be extremely low apyed, and working with paint all day isn't exactly good for your health either...

 

[mmu1]

We've often had games where we needed a dozen orcs, or a dozen goblins, or a dozen kobolds. Usually not all three dozen in the same game, but it's nice to to have to say "ok, these orc-looking guys are actually kobolds, right?".

Then I guess you're probably in the minority amongst DMs. Especially amongst beginning DMs, which is where WotC's growth market is.

You do realize that, with only 8 random minis in a booster pack, it'd take you forever to actually get sets of 10 or 12 orcs, goblins, kobolds, hobgoblins, lizardmen, etc., and cost you a large chunk of cash? Of course, people might trade them, but not if they're going to actually be in demand among DMs, as you think they will.

You will NOT be able to easily get the figures you want and need. That's what the whole business model of "collectible" games is based on.

 

[mmu1]

BTW, anyone know what the working conditions are in these factories? Must be extremely low apyed, and working with paint all day isn't exactly good for your health either...

For what it's worth, acrylics are pretty much non-toxic...

Still, one more reason to buy Reaper.

 

[zouron]

Well I seen lots and ltos of negative stuff, and how people should paint their own minis 'cause they look better.

Sure they do (most of the time that is), and I painted tons of minis, in fact I by this time painted so many I don't wanna touch a paint brush ever again, and I parked my minis well out of the way. However these parks of prepainted could actually make me consider buying miniatures again and using them, I don't give rats about painting minis and I can settle for less then master work in the art department, so I welcome this initiative a lot.

And as for meepo, when I bought minis the encounters I was going to run was never in my mind, which is why I have a rather large potion of my miniatures being undeads, elementals, and common folk.

Personally it seems to me a lot of people forget that not everyone care to spend endless hours painting, and no I am not especially new to the rpg hobby, I am an long time DM/GM that frankly couldn't care less if he saw miniature paint ever again.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I'm an artist...but I don't paint. Period. Paint is eeeeeeeeevil. It always has this habit of doing EXACTLY what I don't want it to. Of course...I don't like much color in my art usually...I'm a black/white/grey kind of pencil artist.
Also, my group doesn't usually USE minis, but since this D&D mini line was announced, we decided we'd all pitch in and get a few to start a good cheap mini collection going between us. And there's also the option of the new "Chainmail lite" possibility the rules for the Mini Game might use...so that's a whole new game. *shrugs* Don't really care if I'm in the minority, because I have evidence everywhere that random plastic mini games sell amazingly well...and aren't as bad as some seem to swear they are...

 

[bolen]

I think if you washed (put on a layer of very thin dark paint so it goes in cracks) them they might look quite good

 

[mmu1]

I think if you washed (put on a layer of very thin dark paint so it goes in cracks) them they might look quite good

It'd work on armor, but if you did it to a whole mini, it'd just make it look dirty. Painful personal experience from my early mini-painting days, that.

Putting a very thin dark coat on an unpainted mini actually gives a pretty nice result, because it makes the metal look "aged" and really brings out the detail.